Fingerprintshttp://www.businessinsider.com/category/fingerprints
en-usSun, 02 Aug 2015 19:20:58 -0400Sun, 02 Aug 2015 19:20:58 -0400The latest news on Fingerprints from Business Insiderhttp://static3.businessinsider.com/assets/images/bilogo-250x36-wide-rev.pngBusiness Insiderhttp://www.businessinsider.com
http://www.businessinsider.com/yahoo-tests-unlocking-smartphone-with-ear-2015-4Yahoo has figured out how to unlock your smartphone by scanning your earhttp://www.businessinsider.com/yahoo-tests-unlocking-smartphone-with-ear-2015-4
Tue, 28 Apr 2015 14:02:00 -0400Steven Tweedie
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/553fc065ecad0427780ff12a-1200-706/bodyprint-presentation.001.jpg" border="0" alt="Bodyprint Yahoo Labs ear unlock"></p><p>Researchers at Yahoo Labs have figured out how to unlock smartphones by scanning your ear.</p>
<p>The technology is called Bodyprint, according to <a href="http://www.christianholz.net/bodyprint.html">a blog post on the team's website</a>, and it uses a smartphone's capacitive touchscreen to sense and "scan" your ear when you press it against the device, which then generates an image that can be used to identify the user and unlock the phone.</p>
<p>Yahoo Labs has also managed to get Bodyprint to work with other parts of the body including fists, knuckles, fingers, and palms, again using the smartphone's touchscreen display to create a low-resolution image unique to each user. <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">This could then be used to lock and unlock files.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/553fc6d26bb3f7e6530ff12a-760-490/2015-chi15-bodyprint-fig2-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Yahoo Labs Bodyprint unlock phone by ear"><br></span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Here's what the technology looks like in action.</span></p>
<p> <img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/553fc5d9ecad045d0c0ff12a/gif2-6.gif" border="0" alt="Yahoo Labs ear unlock phone" style="color: #000000;"></p>
<p>The most compelling use case for Bodyprint seems to be using your ear to unlock your phone, however, as people already hold their phone at least partially against their ear when talking.</p>
<p>Below you can see what the relatively short authentication process looks like, which requires your full ear to be pressed against the phone's display before being free to talk.</p>
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/553fc5256bb3f7e34b0ff136/gif1-3.gif" border="0" alt="Yahoo Labs ear unlock phone GIF"></p>
<p>While most high-end smartphones like the iPhone 6 or the Samsung Galaxy S6 already include fingerprint-scanning technology, Yahoo Labs thinks Bodyprint could be used as a cheaper alternative in smartphones, since no additional sensors are needed since it utilizes the device's touchscreen instead.</p>
<p>Modern fingerprint sensors have an incredibly high resolution, and while using a smartphone's touchscreen as a sensor instead leads to a lower-resolution image, the Yahoo Labs team says it's still plenty accurate.</p>
<p><span>"Bodyprint compensates for the low input resolution with an increased false rejection rate, but does not compromise on authentication precision," the team wrote. "In our evaluation with 12 participants, Bodyprint classified body parts with 99.98% accuracy and identifies users with 99.52% accuracy with a false rejection rate of 26.82% to prevent false positives."</span></p>
<p><span>There's no telling if or when Bodyprint technology will find its way onto cellphones, but it would be an incredibly clever and cost-effective way to bring bio-identification to more cellphones.</span></p>
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<p><span> </span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/inside-apples-secret-apple-watch-lab-2015-4" >A developer who was invited inside Apple's secret Watch lab explains what it was like</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/yahoo-tests-unlocking-smartphone-with-ear-2015-4#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/marissa-mayer-lean-on-advice-yahoo-ceo-2015-4">The 3 people Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer leans on for advice</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-investigating-claims-that-galaxy-s5-fingerprint-scanner-can-be-hacked-2015-4Samsung is 'investigating' claims that its Galaxy S5 fingerprint scanner can easily be hackedhttp://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-investigating-claims-that-galaxy-s5-fingerprint-scanner-can-be-hacked-2015-4
Thu, 23 Apr 2015 07:58:11 -0400Alex Hern
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5538de76dd0895dc058b458a-867-650/samsung-galaxy-s5-home-screen.jpg" border="0" alt="samsung galaxy s5 home screen"></p><p>Samsung is “investigating” claims from security researchers that hackers can steal copies of fingerprints from the company’s 2014 flagship Galaxy S5 smartphone, as well as other Android devices, by exploiting a weakness in the operating system’s handling of biometric data.</p>
<p>According to security firm FireEye, Android fails in its attempts to render fingerprint information inaccessible to most apps by sequestering it in a “secure zone” on the phone. The flaw is simple: rather than trying to break into the secure zone itself, the attackers simply focus on reading the data coming directly from the fingerprint sensor before it reaches the secure zone.</p>
<p>With this information, it’s possible to reconstruct the fingerprint, and potentially use it elsewhere, <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2015/04/21/samsung-galaxy-s5-fingerprint-attacks/">the researchers told Forbes’ Thomas Fox-Brewster</a>.</p>
<p>“If the attacker can break the kernel, although he cannot access the fingerprint data stored in the trusted zone, he can directly read the fingerprint sensor at any time. Every time you touch the fingerprint sensor, the attacker can steal your fingerprint,” one of the researchers, Yulong Zhang, told Forbes. “You can get the data, and from the data you can generate the image of your fingerprint. After that you can do whatever you want.”</p>
<p>The vulnerability is fixed on the newest version of Android, Lollipop – which runs on newer devices, including the Galaxy S6 – and users who can upgrade should. As well as Samsung, some – but not all – other Android devices running versions earlier than Lollipop are affected, though the Galaxy S5 was the only one named. Samsung says it “takes consumer privacy and data security very seriously” and is investigating FireEye’s claims, which are due to be revealed in more detail at the upcoming RSA security conference.</p>
<p>Apple’s TouchID system, present on the iPhone 5s and iPhones 6, uses a similar trusted zone architecture, but no attacker has yet demonstrated the ability to lift fingerprints off the device using a software hack. The fingerprint sensor has, however, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/oct/04/iphone-5s-fingerprint-id-theft">been shown to be vulnerable to spoofed fingerprints</a>: a fake fingerprint, printed onto a laminated sheet and stuck to a real finger, can fool the fingerprint sensor.</p>
<p>Of course, stealing a fingerprint through a software hack may not be the easiest way to bypass biometric security: in December, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/dec/30/hacker-fakes-german-ministers-fingerprints-using-photos-of-her-hands">a hacker demonstrated the ability to spoof a German minister’s fingerprints from just a photograph of her hand</a>.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-investigating-claims-that-galaxy-s5-fingerprint-scanner-can-be-hacked-2015-4#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/solar-roadway-creators-scott-julie-brusaw-2015-2">This couple wants to turn America's roads into gigantic solar panels</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/biometric-fingerprint-password-hacking-2015-1A Hacker Reveals How Your Fingerprint Could Be Easier To Hack Than A Traditional Passwordhttp://www.businessinsider.com/biometric-fingerprint-password-hacking-2015-1
Wed, 07 Jan 2015 14:12:11 -0500Maya Kosoff
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/54ad82a66da8116502c7df72-1200-924/iphone-5s-touch-id-fingerprint-sensor-6.jpg" border="0" alt="iPhone 5S Touch ID fingerprint sensor"></p><p>A hacker has found a way to hack fingerprint passwords — and it's as easy as taking a clear picture of someone's hands.</p>
<p>At the 31st annual <a href="http://www.ccc.de/en/updates/2014/ursel">Chaos Computer Club conference</a> in Hamburg, Germany, <a href="http://www.popsci.com/photograph-can-help-fool-your-phones-fingerprint-sensor">Popular Science reports</a>&nbsp;a hacker named Jan "Starbug" Krissler pointed out the flaws in biometric password technology, like the fingerprint sensor found on an iPhone 6.</p>
<p>Krissler said pictures of people's hands and fingers can be used to recreate a person's fingerprint, which can be used to hack into any of their devices that require fingerprint password entry.</p>
<p>The hacker used pictures of&nbsp;<span>German Defense Minister Ursula Gertrud Von der Leyen, which were taken from about 10 feet away with a standard camera.&nbsp;</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">With the help of&nbsp;<a href="http://www.neurotechnology.com/verifinger.html" target="_blank" class="linkTargets-processed external">VeriFinger</a>, which is used to make&nbsp;</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">fingerprint-identifying&nbsp;</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">hardware, Krissler was able to re-create Von der Leyen's fingerprint.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">However, as Popular Science points out, there's no need to freak out about your iPhone's fingerprint password getting hacked. This is less likely to happen to a normal person, as opposed to someone high-profile, who is in the public eye and is often being photographed. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">And there's no real evidence Krissler was able to test his experiment to see how it matched up with Von der Leyen's own fingerprint — you'd need to have the victim's smartphone to make it work.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">[<a href="http://www.popsci.com/photograph-can-help-fool-your-phones-fingerprint-sensor">Via Popular Science</a>]</span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/kleiner-perkins-ted-schlein-on-cybersecurity-2015-1" >Here's How Startups Can Profit As Big Companies Freak Out About Security</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/biometric-fingerprint-password-hacking-2015-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/hacker-says-he-can-recreate-fingerprints-2014-12A Hacker Says He Can Recreate Fingerprints From Photographshttp://www.businessinsider.com/hacker-says-he-can-recreate-fingerprints-2014-12
Mon, 29 Dec 2014 19:04:00 -0500Pierre Bienaimé
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/5419a756ecad049a638e964b-1200-858/10575772326_af7e69b7dd_k.jpg" alt="iPhone 5S Touch ID fingerprint sensor" border="0"></p><p>A speaker at a yearly hacking conference in Germany has <a href="http://www.ccc.de/en/updates/2014/ursel">claimed</a> the ability to recreate someone's fingerprints using just photographs of their fingers, as reported by the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-30623611">BBC</a>.</p>
<p>This capability would highlight the compromised nature of replacing passwords with fingerprints, which is already seen by experts as far from fully secure.</p>
<p>In his talk at the&nbsp;Chaos Communications Congress — put on by Europe's largest hacker organization — Jan Krissler said he used a high-profile target for his attempt: German defense minister Ursula von der Leyen.</p>
<p>Krissler, also known by the pseudonym "Starbug," used several close-range photos from a "standard photo camera" of von der Leyen's hand from a few angles before creating an image of her thumbprint via VeriFinger, a software program used to read fingerprints.</p>
<p>Krissler has poked holes in biometric security before, with demonstrations of facial recognition technology fooled by a subject's photograph, and even by highlighting the possibility of reading PIN codes from the reflections in a phone user's eyes.</p>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/54a1d35d69bedd4d1b2ead45-1200-800/ursula von der leyen afghanistan germany defense minister.jpg" alt="Ursula von der Leyen Afghanistan Germany Defense Minister" border="0">Brian Roemelle, a blogger who often writes about Apple's Touch ID, applauds any hacker's demonstrations of safety failures. "They bring attention to a lot of thing that move our society forward when it comes to security," he told Business Insider.</p>
<p>But he also thinks it's unreasonable to fear that fingerprint safety will be made obsolete (or that, as Krissler suggests, politicians might start covering up with gloves) simply because there are lots of photos of high-profile individuals floating around the Internet. "I think it's more practical for me to get a fingerprint off the glass of some celebrity or some famous person," he said.</p>
<p>More importantly, Roemelle thinks biometric technology will keep evolving as hacking opportunities arise.</p>
<p>"Technology will move forward as these hacks become more prevalent," whether in the form of further refinements to fingerprint ID technology or to biometric solutions keyed to other parts of the human body, like one's heartbeat.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/hacker-says-he-can-recreate-fingerprints-2014-12#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/a-look-the-smart-guns-that-could-prevent-future-tragedies-2014-12A Look At The 'Smart Guns' That Could Prevent Future Tragedieshttp://www.businessinsider.com/a-look-the-smart-guns-that-could-prevent-future-tragedies-2014-12
Sun, 14 Dec 2014 13:30:00 -0500Pierre Bienaimé
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/548b8aafecad04ac413e47fd-840-560/obama sandy hook task force.jpg" alt="Obama Sandy Hook Task Force" border="0"></p><p>In the wake of the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary two years ago, President Obama <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/17/us/politics/obama-to-ask-congress-to-toughen-gun-laws.html?pagewanted=all&amp;_r=0" target="_blank">signed</a> an executive order to review the availability of innovative gun safety technologies.</p>
<p>The shorthand for that is "smart guns," weapons that — through one technical solution or another — only fire when in the hands of their owner.</p>
<p>Significant hurdles have been raised by Second Amendment absolutists and the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/smith-and-wesson-took-the-lead-on-safety-2012-12">NRA</a>. Though the technology is out there and available in parts of Europe, smart guns have yet to be consistently available in the United States.</p>
<p>Despite the market's challenges, investing in progress isn't a worthless pursuit. Proving the reliability of these new weapons — a major concern for averse consumers — would help the smart gun's case.</p>
<p>Last year, a report by the National Institute of Justice identified <a href="https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/242500.pdf#page=7" target="_blank">13</a> groups (universities, research organizations, and private gun manufacturers) working on solutions.</p>
<p>The Smart Tech Foundation isn't one of them, but it does offer a $1 million prize to stoke innovation. Some 200 people from 35 countries have applied, the youngest just 13 years old.</p>
<p>"We certainly think that the marriage of software technology with firearms is inevitable," Jim Pitkow, a board member the Foundation, told Business Insider. Pitkow was inspired to cofound the foundation after having met some of the Sandy Hook victims' families, and by the apparent lack of capital in the sector.</p>
<p>Bringing new solutions to market may be years away, and Pitkow concedes that domestic resistance has been stiff. But "technology finds its own way," he said. "It'll be applied to the problems where it's able and ready to be applied."</p>
<p><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/548c89c9eab8eab409b3fa1f-840-630/igun shotgun.jpg" alt="iGun shotgun" border="0"></p>
<p>One of the foundation's fund recipients is TriggerSmart, a company based in Ireland.&nbsp;<span>The company won a grant, the sum of which will be announced early next year.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">Its founder, Robert McNamara, started the business believing that the biometric approach — like the </span><a href="http://smarttechfoundation.org/young-engineer/">fingerprint</a><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"> activation technology that has also attracted support from the Smart Tech Foundation — wasn't the best route.</span></p>
<p>"I wondered why biometrics had failed to make it to market," McNamara said. "And the answer seemed fairly obvious, that it was speed and reliability. Biometrics take a while to analyze and people don't have that five seconds or ten seconds in a situation where they need to use the weapon."</p>
<p>Instead, TriggerSmart uses RFID (or radio frequency identification) technology. The gun doesn't fire unless it's coupled with a device that holds the right chip.</p>
<p>German company Armatix has also created a pistol that leverages RFID, which in its case is paired with a watch worn by the user. The price tag could put consumers off; at $1800, Armatix's two-part system costs several times what other handguns do.&nbsp;</p>
<p><iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ES4Kodhr1v8" frameborder="0" height="360" width="640"></iframe></p>
<p>McNamara and others think smart guns could eventually be paired with technology creating "safe zones" around schools or airports, "so that trigger-smart enabled guns coming into that zone could be remotely disabled at point of entry," McNamara said. "We call that feature wide area control."</p>
<p>Conversely, some guns could be authorized only in certain areas. In a military setting, this might reduce the chance of an accident outside a shooting range — or the damage done when a rogue shooter picks up a weapon at the armory.</p>
<p>But for safe zones around schools to be worth the investment, they'd have to exist in a society where most guns are safe ones. "I think there's a gun for every man woman and child in America," said McNamara, whose native Ireland, he added, only has about two thousand licensed owners and an unarmed police force.</p>
<p>He's nearly correct. There are close to 90 guns per 100 Americans — the highest rate of any country — and they go off no matter who's pulling the trigger. Over a third of Americans surveyed by <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/06/04/a-minority-of-americans-own-guns-but-just-how-many-is-unclear/">Pew</a> said they or someone in their household owned a gun.</p>
<p><img class="full" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/548b8970eab8eac4641c9cea-1200-800/sandy hook parents presentations.jpg" alt="Sandy Hook Parents presentations" border="0"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">Like others in the hopeful business of smart guns, McNamara has received a few death threats. "I didn't lose any sleep," he said, because they were one-off instances made over social media.</span></p>
<p>But similar backlash once pressured Maryland gun shop owner Andy Raymond to go back on the decision to carry Armatix's smart pistol.</p>
<p>The power of a sale would have been more than symbolic; a New Jersey law mandates that gun sellers in the state carry only smart guns starting three years after their availability anywhere in the country.</p>
<p>Just earlier this month, however, the New Jersey Attorney General's office <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2014/12/02/unusual-new-jersey-firearm-law-doesnt-apply-to-smart-gun-ag-finds/">ruled out</a> of the "personalized handgun" designation the Armatix pistol once considered by Raymond. Their reasoning: Someone other than the intended user could still fire the weapon if they were close enough to the RFID chip, making the gun not so smart after all (but the iGun's ring, its creator said, transmits "only a couple of inches at most," so perhaps it would meet the state's stringent criteria). &nbsp;</p>
<p>Belinda Padilla, CEO of Armatix, wrote in an email to Business Insider that "With this verdict, I look forward to working with distribution companies and retail stores and soon you will begin to see our products on the shelves."</p>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/548b69ca69beddf26f2cefca-1200-800/armatix smart gun.jpg" alt="Armatix Smart Gun" border="0"></p>
<p>Jonathan Mossberg is the CEO of iGun Technology Corporation. The company is working on a smart shotgun (there's more room to innovate in a bigger gun), which the report by the National Institute of Justice stated "could be considered the first personalized firearm to go beyond a prototype to an actual commercializable or production-ready product."</p>
<p>iGun's product uses magnetic spectrum tag technology, similar in function to RFID. And like TriggerSmart's technology, it's embedded in a ring. If you're not wearing it, you can't fire the gun.</p>
<p>Eventually, Mossberg said the technology could fit in a grain of rice.</p>
<p>"There's no electricity no power, totally waterproof, and it lasts, I think, forever," said Mossberg. "So that's a pretty long time."</p>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/548b9c0d6bb3f79035bae13f-840-423/mp5 with triggersmart smart gun.png" alt="MP5 with TriggerSmart Smart Gun" border="0"></p>
<p>For a while, smart guns just weren't getting any interest. "The whole company, the whole concept has been on ice for like ten years because there was no demand," said Mossberg. "And in the past couple of years there's been a resurgence of demand and interest in it." Now iGun is in trials with a few police departments.</p>
<p>In 2010, <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/11/guns-child-deaths-more-than-cancer/2073259/">hundreds</a> were unintentionally killed (and thousands injured) by accidents involving firearms. McNamara believes smart gun technology can cut that statistic. "I'm in favor of offering the public a choice in purchasing smart guns," McNamara said.</p>
<p>"I'm not suggesting that you can't have your guns. I'm just suggesting that they should be smart guns. A bit like putting a seatbelt in a car."</p>
<p>Recently, he recalled, a police officer told him that a certain dangerous stretch of road had seen 51 fatalities for children under four. "And he asked me the question: 'how many of them had their seatbelts on?' And I'd said, I guessed half of them, or less than half. And he said 'none of them.'</p>
<p>"So I'm sure some of them would be still toddling around the place if they'd had seatbelts on them, and I think likewise if all guns were childproof there'd be lots of kids alive today that unfortunately aren't."</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/a-look-the-smart-guns-that-could-prevent-future-tragedies-2014-12#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/solving-crimes-with-nanoparticles-2014-10Scientists Are Now Using Nanoparticles To Solve Crimeshttp://www.businessinsider.com/solving-crimes-with-nanoparticles-2014-10
Wed, 08 Oct 2014 11:50:41 -0400Tim Sandle
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5435597eecad04cc3106f08b-1024-512/woman-looking-through-magnifying-glass-4.jpg" border="0" alt="Woman looking through magnifying glass"></p><p>Scientists have outlined a new method using nanoparticles to detect fingerprints left at crime scenes. The new technology is said to be far more accurate than the current process.</p>
<p>The new method is based on the premise that nanoparticles are attracted to finger marks chemically. Fingerprints at crime scenes are the result of imprints of grease and perspiration; to this dirt, blood and cosmetics can sometimes be added. These residues lead to a mirror image of the finger marks, appearing as a series of characteristic ridges.</p>
<p>Each fingerprint is&nbsp;<a href="http://science.howstuffworks.com/fingerprinting1.htm" target="_blank">unique to the individual</a>. Human fingerprints are detailed, difficult to alter, and durable over the life of an individual. They remain one of the best ways to confirm a person’s identity.</p>
<p>Nanoparticles were shown to be attracted to the fingerprint due to a chemical bond that exists between the carboxyl group and a specific chemical group, called an amine group. Amine comes from the amino acids and protein residues from the finger mark.</p>
<p>For the research, scientists created finger marks onto aluminium foil. The foil was next submerged into a solution containing silicon dioxide nanoparticles coated with a carboxyl group made up of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms.</p>
<p>With the research, the scientists state that they have been able to detect fifty percent more finger marks when compared with currently available methods (that is the detection of fingerprints that would have gone undetected).</p>
<p>The scientists argue that this enhanced understanding about the interactions between nanoparticles and finger marks will lead to more precise targeting methods as well as increasing the possibility of detecting previously undetectable finger marks. Thus the research suggests that nanoparticles can be used to within the field of forensic science.</p>
<p>The research was conducted at the University of Lausanne and the findings have been&nbsp;<a href="http://iopscience.iop.org/0957-4484/25/42/425502/article" target="_blank">published in</a>&nbsp;the journal&nbsp;Nanotechnology. The paper is titled “Nanoparticles for fingermark detection: an insight into the reaction mechanism”.<span><br></span></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/solving-crimes-with-nanoparticles-2014-10#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-6-boosts-cyber-security-2014-9Celebrity Hack Aside, Apple Is On The Brink Of A Security Breakthrough (AAPL)http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-6-boosts-cyber-security-2014-9
Thu, 04 Sep 2014 11:38:00 -0400Gus Lubin
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/54087b92ecad047d0aff9eee-1200-600/apple-fingerprint-iphone.jpg" border="0" alt="apple fingerprint iphone"></p><p>Apple looks bad<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/tim-cook-apple-and-the-icloud-hack-2014-9"></a> after the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/4chan-nude-photo-leak-2014-8">theft of thousands of nude photos of celebrities</a> allegedly&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-hackers-get-into-your-apple-icloud-account-2014-9">taken from its iCloud servers</a>, even if the company <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-statement-on-celebrity-hacking-2014-9">denies responsibility</a>. The fiasco is one reason that&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-stock-falls-2014-9">company shares fell 4.2% </a>on Wednesday, and some have warned&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/tim-cook-apple-and-the-icloud-hack-2014-9">it could spoil the expected Sept. 9 announcement</a> of the iPhone 6 and a smartwatch.</p>
<p>But Apple is not alone in cybersecurity vulnerability.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/home-depot-hack-larger-than-targets-2014-9">Home Depot</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-target-credit-card-hack-backoff-affects-1000-other-businesses-2014-8">Target, UPS, and thousands of other businesses</a> have suffered major data breaches, while more than a billion passwords were recently <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/russian-hackers-steal-usernames-passwords-2014-8">stolen from around the web by Russian hackers</a>, with untold more taken through <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/heartbleed-security-flaw-2014-4">the Heartbleed bug</a></p>
<p>More than any one company, it's cybersecurity in general that is broken. Passwords have become unreliable, especially since few people have the wherewithal to create, remember, and update dozens of long and unique passwords — and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-use-password-manager-lastpass-2014-8">solutions offered by password managers</a> are unwieldy, as I've learned while using LastPass for the past few weeks.</p>
<p>In the face of this crisis, Apple may be closer than anyone to a viable solution.</p>
<p>It starts with the fingerprint sensor in the iPhone. Introduced in the iPhone 5S, this technology <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-galaxy-s5-fingerprint-sensor-bad-2014-5">works much better than versions in other phones</a>&nbsp;and <a href="http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/26/the-iphone-5ss-fingerprint-scanner-was-hacked-but-im-not-worried/">while not infallible it is very secure</a>, with fingerprint data stored in highly encrypted form on the device and nowhere else.</p>
<p>So far this technology has been available for logging into iPhones and making purchases from Apple, but it was <a href="http://9to5mac.com/2014/06/02/apple-opens-up-touch-id-to-third-party-app-developers/">opened up to third-party developers</a> earlier this summer.</p>
<p>Letting other apps use it could <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-new-apple-iphone-to-have-mobile-wallet-function-bloomberg-2014-9">make all mobile payments much more secure</a>&nbsp;— so much so that analysts are warning&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-plan-to-kill-paypal-2014-9">PayPal and other mobile-payment competitors are in trouble</a>.</p>
<p>What's more, adding fingerprint technology to password managers, as <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/1password-ios-8-extension-2014-7">promised by 1Password</a> and&nbsp;<a href="http://blog.lastpass.com/2014/06/what-apples-announcements-could-mean.html">hinted by LastPass</a>,&nbsp;could finally make those programs work smoothly.</p>
<p>And current fingerprint technology is just the beginning.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-iphone-security-patent-2014-7">A recent Apple patent</a> for <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-iphone-security-patent-2014-7">a way to change security requirements based on location</a> mentions the possibility of "DNA, fingerprints, retinal scans, voice identification, cadence of typing, walking, talking, and other biometric identification methods." In other words, highly secure multifactor authentication systems are likely in the works.</p>
<p>All told, these innovations could boost Apple's mobile security by leaps and bounds.</p>
<p>As for nude selfies, however, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-statement-on-icloud-hack-2014-9">we're still waiting for assurance from Apple</a>&nbsp;that iCloud is safe or getting safer. It would be a game changer if Apple integrated fingerprint technology or other forms of multifactor authentication into web services. While that mere possibility is exciting, in the meantime you may be better of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-delete-photos-from-icloud-2014-9">deleting those pictures</a>.</p>
<p><em>Disclosure: I am invested in Apple.</em></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-turn-on-2-factor-authentication-in-gmail-2014-9" >How to enable Google's essential 2-factor authentication</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-6-boosts-cyber-security-2014-9#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/iris-scanning-coming-to-samsung-smartphones-2014-5Future Samsung Smartphones May Be Able To Scan Your Eye For Extra Securityhttp://www.businessinsider.com/iris-scanning-coming-to-samsung-smartphones-2014-5
Mon, 19 May 2014 11:49:29 -0400Lisa Eadicicco
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/5340de5a69bedd2566030189-800-/img_8609-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Samsung Galaxy S5 finger print sensor not working" width="800" /></p><p></p>
<p>Samsung plans to add iris scanning technology to its future smartphones as part of its enterprise security software, according to <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/05/19/samsung-looks-to-expand-biometric-sensors-in-mobile-devices/">The Wall Street Journal</a>. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>The tech is likely to integrate with the company's Knox platform, which is a mobile security software designed to make Samsung phones more secure in the workplace.&nbsp;</p>
<p><span>"We're looking at various types of biometric [mechanisms]," Rhee In-jong, Samsung's senior vice president who leads the development of Knox, told The Wall Street Journal.&nbsp;"And one thing that everyone is looking at is iris detection."</span></p>
<p><span>At the same time, the Journal reports that Samsung will bring fingerprint sensors to its cheaper phones, not just flagships like the Galaxy S5.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p>While fingerprint sensors are useful as a more convenient means of unlocking your phone rather than typing in a passcode, security experts have pointed out the &nbsp;potential security risks.</p>
<p>The biggest issue is that it's relatively easy to fool fingerprint scanning systems. Immediately following the launch of both the Galaxy S5 and iPhone 5s, hackers discovered ways to fake out each fingerprint sensor.</p>
<p>As Nicholas Percoco, vice president of strategic services at IT security firm Rapid7 pointed out, it's not difficult to lift someone's fingerprint.</p>
<p>"The main reason is, it's not necessarily a secret where a password could be," he said in a previous interview with Business Insider. "If you think about your fingerprint, every single thing you've touched since you woke up this morning has your password on it. So that's a problem."</p>
<p>U.S. Senator Al Franken <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/al-franken-galaxy-s5-letter-2014-5">recently wrote a letter to Samsung</a> expressing his concerns regarding how secure the Galaxy S5's fingerprint sensor truly is. In the letter, Franken writes that security vulnerabilities discovered in the fingerprint scanner could create broader issues across the device.</p>
<p>If Samsung does want to integrate biometrics into its Knox suite, it's not too surprising that the company is looking for alternate types of authentication that may be more secure.</p>
<p>Technology such as iris-scanning will probably be available in high-end phones first, according to the Journal,while fingerprint scanners are expected to come to inexpensive models as well.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/password-alternatives-2014-5" >Passwords Are A Horrible Way To Keep Us Safe—Here Are The Potential Alternatives</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/iris-scanning-coming-to-samsung-smartphones-2014-5#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/al-franken-galaxy-s5-letter-2014-5The Galaxy S5's Fingerprint Sensor Has A US Senator Seriously Worried About Securityhttp://www.businessinsider.com/al-franken-galaxy-s5-letter-2014-5
Tue, 13 May 2014 17:45:28 -0400Lisa Eadicicco
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/534d51e769beddf663106b02-800-/screen%20shot%202014-04-15%20at%2011.35.28%20am.png" border="0" alt="samsung galaxy s5 fingerprint scanner hack" width="800" /></p><p>U.S. Senator Al Franken is concerned that Samsung's Galaxy S5 may not be secure enough after researchers have demonstrated that its fingerprint sensor is hackable.</p>
<p>The Minnesota representative voiced his concerns <a href="http://www.franken.senate.gov/files/letter/140513SamsungLetter.pdf">in a letter to Samsung</a>, which was&nbsp;first spotted by <a href="http://recode.net/2014/05/13/sen-franken-raises-questions-about-security-of-galaxy-s5/">Re/code</a>.</p>
<p>In the letter, Franken writes that security vulnerabilities discovered in the fingerprint scanner could create broader issues with the phone.</p>
<p>For example, Franken seems worried that since any user could send money through PayPal after being verified with a fingerprint, a thief could easily deplete one's accounts if he or she hacks the biometric scanner.</p>
<p>Shortly after the Galaxy S5 hit stores, German researchers posted a video detailing <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfhLZZWBn5Q&amp;feature=youtu.be">how to get around the Galaxy S5's fingerprint sensor</a>.</p>
<p>Hackers did the same for Apple's iPhone 5s after it debuted, but Franken said that the Galaxy S5's fingerprint scanner is more troubling since it allows for unlimited attempts before forcing the user to enter a password.</p>
<p>Franken also pointed out the potential security risks in replacing a password with a fingerprint scan. Despite recent internet breaches such as the Heartbleed bug, the core idea of a password is that it's a secret. Fingerprints, as Franken notes, are the opposite.</p>
<p>A clever con artist could easily lift your fingerprint off your phone's screen, as Nicholas Percoco, vice president of strategic services at IT security firm Rapid7 said in a previous interview with Business Insider.</p>
<p>"The other thing is, you can't change your fingerprints," Percoco said. "So you really only have 10 shots."</p>
<p>Franken posed a list of 13 security questions to Samsung regarding the S5 that he requested be answered with a month of receiving the letter. He also acknowledged that these questions are nearly identical to the ones &nbsp;he had asked Apple last year concerning the iPhone 5s.</p>
<p>"I'm not trying to discourage the adoption of fingerprint technology for consumer mobile devices," he wrote. "If adopted with strong safeguards, this technology could prove to be convenient and beneficial.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/password-alternatives-2014-5" >Passwords Are A Horrible Way To Keep Us Safe—Here Are The Potential Alternatives</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/al-franken-galaxy-s5-letter-2014-5#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/password-alternatives-2014-5Passwords Are A Horrible Way To Keep Us Safe — Here Are The Potential Alternativeshttp://www.businessinsider.com/password-alternatives-2014-5
Sun, 11 May 2014 08:48:00 -0400Lisa Eadicicco
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5370b7c9ecad041e152b039f-1200-924/smartphone-man.jpg" border="0" alt="smartphone man" /></p><p>Two years, ago Wired reporter Matt Honan <a href="http://www.wired.com/2012/08/apple-amazon-mat-honan-hacking/">had his entire digital life erased</a>. His&nbsp;AppleID and accounts with Google, Twitter, and Amazon had all been compromised in the span of one hour. The hacker tweeted offensive remarks from his Twitter account and wiped his iPhone, iPad, and MacBook completely clean.</p>
<p>About two months ago, a U.K.-based Reddit user <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/PS4/comments/1ysh5l/my_account_got_hacked_money_got_stolen/">woke up to find that a hacker had stolen</a> a decent sum of money from him by running up the bill on his PlayStation account. The culprit took so much money, in fact, that the author was unable to pay his rent that month.</p>
<p>Both incidents provide examples of what can happen when usernames and passwords fall into the wrong hands.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Last month, researchers discovered one of the biggest vulnerabilities the internet had ever seen&mdash; <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/heartbleed-security-flaw-2014-4">the Hearbleed bug</a>. Heartbleed occurred as a result of a critical flaw in OpenSSL, a popular encryption standard, which could allow hackers to trick servers into spitting out crucial personal information.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Since then, experts have been warning the public to change the passwords to their most important accounts. These events, however, raise the question as to whether or not there's a future for the traditional username and password.&nbsp;</p>
<h2>The problem with the password</h2>
<p>"I think the password is going the way of the dinosaur," said Jonathan Klein, president of <a href="http://www.microstrategy.com/us/usher">Usher</a>, a company that focuses on mobile identity solutions for enterprise platforms. "I think there's no question that it's a flawed and broken system."</p>
<blockquote class="pullquote">"I think there's no question that it's a flawed and broken system."</blockquote>
<p>There are two basic problems with the password, according to Klein, the more obvious of which being that they're not very user friendly.</p>
<p dir="ltr">"One of two things happen," Klein said. "They either forget [their passwords] and they get locked out of their systems...or much more dangerously they do the old famous yellow sticky note. And you&rsquo;d be surprised if you walk around a corporation or organization that&rsquo;s supposed to have high security, the number of people that have just written down their username and password on a little sticky note."</p>
<p dir="ltr">The other issue has to do with the nature of the username and password system. Sending critical information, such as your password, to another server makes it susceptible to hackers. In most cases, this type of data is encrypted when it travels between servers to prevent interceptors from reading it. However, if someone learns how to take advantage of a serious vulnerability such as Heartbleed, they could potentially decrypt that information.</p>
<p dir="ltr">"The mere transmission of that sensitive password information across open channels means that it can be stolen or phished," Klein said. "We think the solution is just the complete elimination of usernames and passwords."</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Could a fingerprint scanner replace the password? 'Absolutely not.'</h2>
<p dir="ltr">Alternatives to the password have existed long before Heartbleed, but none of them have really been implemented on a widespread scale. Both Apple and Samsung have added biometric fingerprint scanners to their newest flagship smartphones, although the technology is most commonly used as more convenient means of unlocking your smartphone.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr"><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/536d3554ecad04810b3e69c0/fingerprintsensors.gif" border="0" alt="FingerprintSensors" />The technology may not be secure enough to ever replace the traditional password,&nbsp;Nicholas Percoco, vice president of strategic services at <a href="http://www.rapid7.com/">IT security firm&nbsp;Rapid7</a>, says. When asked whether or not fingerprint scanning technology could make passwords obsolete, he replied "absolutely not."</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-10b48dde-e228-bc57-5b91-d4786ee2fff5">"The main reason is, it's not necessarily a secret whereas a password could be," Percoco said. "If you think about your fingerprint, every single thing you&rsquo;ve touched since you woke up this morning has your password on it. So that&rsquo;s a problem."</span></p>
<p dir="ltr">It's relatively easy to fool these systems, according to Percoco. If a thief steals your fingerprint-protected iPhone 5s, he or she could lift the fingerprints off your phone's screen. In September, German hackers figured out how to get around the iPhone 5s' biometric sensor just two days after the phone was released. Researchers in Germany were also able to fool the Galaxy S5's fingerprint scanner into accepting a mold of an enrolled finger rather than the real thing.</p>
<p dir="ltr">"The other thing is, you can't change your fingerprints," Percoco said. "So you really only have 10 shots."</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">&nbsp;The right solution</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/536d36406da8113c703e69bf-400-300/qr-code.jpg" border="0" alt="qr code" />Multi-factor authentication is the best way to make sure hackers don't get ahold of your personal information. This is the process where you type in your password and a secondary password gets sent to your phone via text message. Many accounts and services, including Google, offer two-factor authentication today. In theory, a hacker would need both your password and your smartphone to access your accounts. That's unlikely to happen.</p>
<p dir="ltr">However, both Klein and Liam O Murchu, a senior manager at <a href="http://www.symantec.com/index.jsp">security firm Symantec</a>, imagine a future that involves combining various types of verification techniques.</p>
<p dir="ltr">For example, Klein praised the system used at Usher's parent company MicroStrategy, which involves using your smartphone to scan a QR code on your computer screen to login rather than typing in a username and password.</p>
<p dir="ltr">An encrypted mobile ID would be stored on your phone, which tells the computer that you're authorized to log in. This type of technology could be even more secure if you're using a phone with biometric authentication such as the iPhone 5s or Galaxy S5.</p>
<p dir="ltr">"There's nothing to intercept, there's nothing to steal, there's nothing to remember, and it's perfectly secure," he said. "We think that this is the future&mdash;the combination of biometrics and encryption on a smartphone."</p>
<p dir="ltr">Using more than one type of authentication could also address the concerns Percoco acknowledged earlier. For example, if a phone or bank account required both voice verification and a fingerprint swipe, an intruder would have a much more difficult time obtaining your information even if he or she imitated your fingerprints.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Why aren't we using it today?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">Technology that can prevent our digital identities from being stolen already exist, but they're not part of our everyday lives just yet. That's largely because the technology simply isn't reliable enough yet to be rolled out on such a large scale, O Murchu said.</p>
<p dir="ltr">"I still think it's a very young market," he said in reference to biometric security and facial recognition. "It still needs to be tested. The two models [iPhone 5s and Galaxy S5] that came out with the fingerprint scanner were a real gamble as to whether or not they would be secure enough."</p>
<p dir="ltr">In about five years, O Murchu believes we'll see some strong competitors to the traditional password, although standard username logins will continue to exist. Technology similar to the facial recognition used in Microsoft's Xbox One could easily translate to an everyday smartphone over the next few years.</p>
<p dir="ltr">"Maybe three or five years out we'll see something where you just look at the phone and it recognizes your face and it logs you in," O Murchu said.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><img style="float:right;" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/53284e426bb3f7346f4c1627-1200-800/screen%20shot%202014-03-18%20at%209.46.06%20am.png" border="0" alt="facebook facial recognition" />According to Klein, there are two key reasons why biometrics and QR-scanning systems haven't hit the mainstream yet.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Like O'Murchu, he said that these types technology still need to be perfected. But he also emphasized that smartphone adoption is now high enough around the world to make this type of login technique a reality.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Klein says there are 2 billion smartphones in circulation worldwide, and that number is expected to double within the next three years.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">"We think this shift is going to happen quickly," Klein said. "2014 is the first time really in history when it really could happen.&nbsp;Realistically usernames and passwords will be here for a while. We just think that there&rsquo;s going to be an important shift taking place to find a new and better solution."&nbsp;</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-create-strong-password-heartbleed-2014-4" >How To Create Super Strong Passwords To Protect Yourself From The Heartbleed Bug</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/password-alternatives-2014-5#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-galaxy-s5-fingerprint-sensor-bad-2014-5The Samsung Galaxy S5 Has Serious Fingerprint Sensor Problemshttp://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-galaxy-s5-fingerprint-sensor-bad-2014-5
Mon, 05 May 2014 13:54:00 -0400Will Wei
<p>The Samsung Galaxy S5 is <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-galaxy-s5-review-2014-4">one of the best phones you can buy right now</a>. Problem is, its fingerprint sensor is comically bad.&nbsp;</p>
<p>For some perspective, we compared the Galaxy S5 to the iPhone 5S in a fingerprint sensor battle.</p>
<p><em>Produced by&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/author/will-wei">Will Wei</a>.</em></p>
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<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-galaxy-s5-fingerprint-sensor-bad-2014-5#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-5s-touch-id-fingerprint-sensor-2013-12People Are Complaining That Apple's 'Game-Changing' Fingerprint Sensor Isn't Working Anymore (AAPL)http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-5s-touch-id-fingerprint-sensor-2013-12
Thu, 05 Dec 2013 09:40:00 -0500Megan Rose Dickey
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/52a08c8a69beddd136c34043-480-/ios-7-apple-iphone-5s-9.jpg" border="0" alt="ios 7 apple iphone 5s" width="480" /></p><p>People <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-5s-fingerprint-issues-2013-11" target="_blank">still seem to be having issues</a> with the new fingerprint sensor (called Touch ID) on Apple's iPhone 5S.</p>
<p>Touch ID is supposed to make it easier for iPhone users to unlock their phone and make purchases in the iTunes store.&nbsp;</p>
<p>But since the device launched in September, some users have started to complain that the phone won't recognize when a finger is present or that it rejects a fingerprint it's supposed to approve.</p>
<p>Touch ID was lauded as a game changer in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/first-iphone-5s-reviews-2013-9">early reviews of the device</a>.&nbsp;</p>
<p>There are a couple of reasons why this could be happening, <a href="http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/12/touch-id-issues-and-fixes/" target="_blank">Wired reports</a>. It could be the software, hardware, or even the user herself.</p>
<p>The sensor itself is made of raw silicon, which is very sensitive to things like dust and moisture. So Apple insulated the sensor (located on the home button) with sapphire. But if you end up scratching the home button, the sensor won't work as well.</p>
<p>The larger the sensor, the easier it is to capture a highly accurate image of your full fingerprint. But Apple opted for a smaller sensor that could fit inside the home button. However, Apple could eventually improve the algorithm it uses to read fingerprints.</p>
<p>User error and lack of biometrics knowledge could also play a role in Touch ID issues. If your hands are too dry, it's harder for the sensor to recognize your print. But if your hands are too sweaty or oily, the sensor may also fail to recognize your print.&nbsp;</p>
<p>As a user, you should also make sure your finger is touching both the home button and the stainless steel ring surrounding the sensor. If you're still having issues, try rescanning your fingerprints.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-5s-fingerprint-issues-2013-11" >Some People Are Complaining About The Fingerprint Sensor On The iPhone 5S</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-5s-touch-id-fingerprint-sensor-2013-12#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/video-shows-touch-id-hack-2013-9This Video Shows The Exact Process For Hacking The iPhone's Fingerprint Touch ID (AAPL)http://www.businessinsider.com/video-shows-touch-id-hack-2013-9
Wed, 25 Sep 2013 15:18:00 -0400Julie Bort
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/52430d336bb3f7c01d6cd2ce-800-/iphone-fingerprint-hack.png" border="0" alt="iPhone Fingerprint hack" width="800" /></p><p>About 48-hours after the iPhone's release in Germany, a group of hackers calling themselves the Chaos Computer Club came up with a way to hack the phone's fingerprint sensor.</p>
<p>They won a bounty worth several thousand dollars in cash and prizes from the <a href="http://istouchidhackedyet.com/">"<span class="skimwords-unlinked">istouchidhackedyet.com</span>" contest. </a></p>
<p>As part of that contest, the hackers had to produce a video showing exactly how they did it. The first video fell short, so the group produced a second one that has the step-by-step process.</p>
<p>After watching this, there's one thing clear: it's not easy to do. They lifted the finger print, scanned it, and then went through several steps to build a fake model of the print out of latex.</p>
<p>So, it's not like someone is going to grab your fingerprint from a beer glass and break into your iPhone while you're out on the dance floor. But if someone does have access to your fingerprint and the determination to spoof it, this shows how it can be done.</p>
<p>&nbsp;<iframe width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/75324765"></iframe></p>
<p><a href="http://vimeo.com/75324765">Starbug's Touch ID Attack.</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user14066980">Nick De</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/video-shows-touch-id-hack-2013-9#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-5s-fingerprint-sensor-setup-2013-9Proof That The Fingerprint Sensor On The iPhone 5S Isn't Just A Gimmickhttp://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-5s-fingerprint-sensor-setup-2013-9
Sat, 21 Sep 2013 08:36:00 -0400Steve Kovach and Will Wei
<p>The most important new feature on <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-5s-hands-on-photos-2013-9">the iPhone 5S</a> is the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cat-unlocks-iphone-5s-2013-9">fingerprint sensor</a>, which lets you unlock the phone without having to type in a passcode.</p>
<p>It's really easy to set up and use, so we got a few of our coworkers to try it out to see what they think of it. Take a look at the new iPhone 5S's fingerprint sensor in action below:</p>
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<p><em>Produced by William Wei</em></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-5s-slow-motion-2013-9" >This New Slow-Motion Video Feature On The iPhone 5S Is Ridiculously Cool</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-5s-fingerprint-sensor-setup-2013-9#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/sherrod-browns-iphone-bill-2013-9Ohio Senator Has A Plan For Stopping iPhone Thieveshttp://www.businessinsider.com/sherrod-browns-iphone-bill-2013-9
Thu, 19 Sep 2013 18:17:00 -0400Christina Sterbenz
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/523a0c4e6bb3f77470b9aafd-480-/china-mobile-theft.jpg" border="0" alt="china mobile theft" width="480" /></p><p>Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) has proposed a bill that would make tampering with a phone's identification number a felony offense, punishable by five years in prison, <a href="http://www.wkyc.com/news/article/314559/16/Senator-Brown-targets-cell-phone-thieves">WKYC Cleveland</a> reports.</p>
<p>Here's why that matters.</p>
<p>If your phone gets lost or stolen, your carrier can deactivate it using its ID number. These companies can also "blacklist" the digits, blocking it from reactivation in the future. But if someone swaps the ID for a new one &mdash; back in business.</p>
<p>Brown proposed the Mobile Device Theft Deterrence Act in late May, according <a href="http://fox8.com/2013/05/30/brown-works-to-deter-cell-phone-theft/">Fox 8 Cleveland</a>. He continues to push for action on it.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p>Cell phone theft skyrocketing. Sherrod is trying to stop thieves from swiping your phone by swapping its ID #. <a href="http://t.co/IDZHQOfMXC">http://t.co/IDZHQOfMXC</a></p>
&mdash; Sherrod Brown (@SherrodBrown) <a href="https://twitter.com/SherrodBrown/statuses/380411015445237760">September 18, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script>
<p>"Because the resale value continues to go up, obviously that builds incentives for theft," Brown told WKYC.</p>
<p>To demonstrate how easily anyone can sell a phone, WKYC posted one online. They received four different bids from three websites in less an one minute.</p>
<p>In recent years, iPhone theft has become an epidemic. A Harris poll found that nearly 10% of cellular users reported a stolen phone at one point. The problem hits big cities the hardest. In San Francisco, nearly half of all robberies involve mobile phones, and mobile theft increased 40% in New York City in 2012, according to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/eric-schneiderman-stolen-phone-letter-2013-5">Time.</a> In May, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/eric-schneiderman-stolen-phone-letter-2013-5">asked Apple to remedy the problem. </a></p>
<p>Brown's proposal looks a lot like the existing penalty for modifying vehicle identification numbers or VINs. That move came as a result of increasing auto theft in country, a similar situation as rampant iPhone robberies.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/apples-touch-id-fingerprint-scanner-and-e-commerce-2013-9">iPhone 5S' new fingerprint scanner,</a> however, might help the situation a bit. Even though thieves can still hack the phone and change the ID number, they can't turn off a phone locked with a fingerprint. That makes the phone traceable for as long as the battery lasts, as <a href="http://gizmodo.com/apple-missed-the-best-use-for-a-fingerprint-scanner-1294669941">Gizmodo points out. </a></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sherrod-browns-iphone-bill-2013-9#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-fingerprint-bounty-2013-9There's A $50,000+ Bounty For The First Person To Outwit The iPhone Touch IDhttp://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-fingerprint-bounty-2013-9
Thu, 19 Sep 2013 16:39:57 -0400Julie Bort
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/523b563069bedd4342647578-480-/iphone-5s-fingerprint-scanned.jpg" border="0" alt="iphone 5s fingerprint scanned" width="480" /></p><p>A group of security professionals and other assorted white hat "hackers" are running an old-fashioned honor-system contest. A couple dozen of them have pledged various prizes to the first person that can outwit the iPhone fingerprint security sensor, the feature Apple calls Touch ID.</p>
<p>They aren't looking for a software hack. They want to see someone reliably and repeatably outsmart the device by lifting fingerprints from, say, a beer mug. In other words, can Touch ID be tricked, rather than hacked?</p>
<p>They've launched a site called "istouchidhackedyet.com" where people have pledged to pay the winner various prizes. There are a lot of $100 pledges, but also Bitcoins, bottles of wine, tequila, and other goodies.</p>
<p>It's not an organized thing. It's up to the winner to get these folks to make good on their pledges.</p>
<p>However, venture capitalist Arturas Rosenbacher, a founder of I/O Capital, pledged a whopping $10,000.</p>
<p>One of the contest's sponsor's, security researcher <span class="screen-name">Nick Depetrillo</span>, <a href="https://twitter.com/nickdepetrillo/status/380430936770633728">tweeted</a> that in order to collect, he wants to see a video.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-fingerprint-bounty-2013-9#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-fingerprint-demo-apple-store-2013-9Here's How You'll Be Able To Test The New iPhone's Fingerprint Sensor In The Apple Store (AAPL)http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-fingerprint-demo-apple-store-2013-9
Mon, 16 Sep 2013 09:18:28 -0400Caroline Moss
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5237042869bedd613a3cf926-480-/iphone-5s-camera.jpg" border="0" alt="iPhone 5s camera" width="480" />One of the most talked about features in Apple's recently announced iPhone 5S is </span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-apples-new-fingerprint-technology-works-on-the-new-iphone-5s-2013-9">Touch ID, the fingerprint sensor that will act as an extra level of security for its owner</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The phone can be programmed to recognize the user's distinct fingerprint.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p>This is a feature that Apple is eager to show off, but how will they do that in stores where hundreds of people come in and out to test out the same machines day after day?</p>
<p>The answer is a demo application Apple has designed specific to the iPhone 5S demo units that will be found in Apple Stores and Carrier stores, <a href="http://9to5mac.com/2013/09/15/apple-stores-to-show-off-iphone-5s-touch-id-feature-using-demo-app/">9to5Mac reports</a>.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Here's how it will work, according to 9to5Mac:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">To test Touch ID, a customer can launch the demo app. In this app, a customer can setup the device to recognize a single fingerprint. When the setup process is complete, the application will direct the user to place that fingerprint on the Touch ID sensor on the Home button. The application will then show that the Home button successfully read the fingerprint. Then, the app will tell the user to place a different finger on the Home button. The app will then show a red fingerprint outline to note that the authentication was not successful.</p>
<p><span>This will help potential buyers understand the setup process of Touch ID, and how it will work to accept or reject fingerprints, even if the demo application does not support the feature's full functionality (unlocking the phone and downloading content from iTunes). </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The application will reset so each new customer will be able to try out the fingerprint sensor feature when they visit the Apple store.</span></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-fingerprint-demo-apple-store-2013-9#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/how-apples-new-fingerprint-technology-works-on-the-new-iphone-5s-2013-9Here's How Apple's Fingerprint Technology Works On The iPhone 5Shttp://www.businessinsider.com/how-apples-new-fingerprint-technology-works-on-the-new-iphone-5s-2013-9
Sun, 15 Sep 2013 12:37:12 -0400Megan Rose Dickey
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/522f71e46da811f7384b398f-480-/apple-5s-fingerprint-tech.png" border="0" alt="Apple-5s-fingerprint-tech" width="480" /></p><p>Apple just <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-announces-iphone-5s-2013-9">officially announced and unveiled the iPhone 5S</a>, which is supposed to be twice as fast as its predecessor and comes with a fingerprint sensor.</p>
<p>The fingerprint system, dubbed Touch ID, will let you unlock your phone by simply placing your finger on the home button.&nbsp;</p>
<p>We've broken down how the system works.</p><h3>With Touch ID, all you have to do is touch your finger to the home button to unlock your phone. No more need for passwords .</h3>
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/522f6b826da811e4404b39a4-400-300/with-touch-id-all-you-have-to-do-is-touch-your-finger-to-the-home-button-to-unlock-your-phone-no-more-need-for-passwords-.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><h3>With the new iPhone, you'll be able to use your fingerprint to buy apps, music, books, TV shows, and movies through the iTunes Store. </h3>
<img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/522f6c3b6da811e6404b39a2-400-300/with-the-new-iphone-youll-be-able-to-use-your-fingerprint-to-buy-apps-music-books-tv-shows-and-movies-through-the-itunes-store.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><h3>But first you'll need to add your fingerprint and set your phone to allow its use instead of your Apple ID password. </h3>
<img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/522f6c7a6da811e8404b39a6-400-300/but-first-youll-need-to-add-your-fingerprint-and-set-your-phone-to-allow-its-use-instead-of-your-apple-id-password.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-apples-new-fingerprint-technology-works-on-the-new-iphone-5s-2013-9#simply-tap-your-finger-to-set-it-up-the-more-you-use-touchid-the-better-it-gets-at-detecting-your-finger-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-fingerprint-tech-flaws-2013-9Here's What Could Go Wrong With Apple's New Fingerprint Tech, According To A Security Expert (AAPL)http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-fingerprint-tech-flaws-2013-9
Tue, 10 Sep 2013 16:32:00 -0400Julie Bort
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/522f72b76bb3f7a44243acb2-480-/iphone-5c-fingerprint.png" border="0" alt="iPhone 5C fingerprint" width="480" /></p><p>After months of rumors, Apple today confirmed that the new iPhone 5S will include a<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-announces-iphone-5s-2013-9"> fingerprint scanner</a>.</p>
<p>You can use your fingerprint to unlock your phone simply by placing your finger on top of the home button. You can also use your fingerprint with the iTunes store instead of entering a password every time you want to make a purchase.</p>
<p>Is trusting Apple with your fingerprint safe? What could go wrong? We turned to security expert Shuman Ghosemajumder, a former Google security guru who is now working at buzzy, stealthy security startup <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/shape-security-raises-financing-2013-1">Shape Security</a> to find out.</p>
<p>Ghosemajumder said the fingerprint scanner sounds safe to use and that he, himself, would probably use it, once he found out some details about it.</p>
<p>The good news is that fingerprints will only be stored on the phone, not in the cloud, and that's really important.</p>
<p>"Having a central database of fingerprints in the cloud would be incredibly dangerous,"&nbsp;Ghosemajumder told us. "But you would expect Apple has world class security experts advising and working with them on this."</p>
<p>Still, he cautioned, there are a few things that would make the fingerprint scanner unsafe.</p>
<p>1. It must be a hardware-only device. The scanner must not be activated by software or pass the fingerprint information to software.&nbsp; If it can be activated by software than there will be bad guys that can write malicious code for it. A hardware-only device will tell the software "yes, this fingerprint is ok" or "no, this fingerprint is not ok" but it will not share the fingerprint, or data about the fingerprint, with the software.</p>
<p>2. It must store the photograph of the fingerprint in a super-safe location on the device. This location has to be blocked off and not accessible by software. Otherwise, hackers will be able to get the fingerprint that way.</p>
<p>3. Apple needs to explain how it will use the scanner with iTunes. Will it temporarily store the fingerprint or information about it, the way Siri temporarily stores requests? Even temporary storage of a fingerprint in a cloud server could give hackers an "in."</p>
<p>Ghosemajumder said that the security community will be asking Apple all of these questions.</p>
<p>Failing that, we'll also find all of this out "as soon as iOS 7 is jailbroken," he laughed. Jailbreaking a phone means to hack into the software and poke around. Tech experts usually jailbreak a new iPhone within hours or days after it hits the shelves.</p>
<p>If it turns out that this feature isn't as safe as it sounds, you'll be able to turn it off. That's good news, too.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-apples-new-fingerprint-technology-works-on-the-new-iphone-5s-2013-9" >Here's How Apple's Fingerprint Technology Works On The iPhone 5S</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-fingerprint-tech-flaws-2013-9#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/how-apples-new-fingerprint-technology-works-on-the-new-iphone-5s-2013-9Here's How Apple's Fingerprint Technology Works On The iPhone 5Shttp://www.businessinsider.com/how-apples-new-fingerprint-technology-works-on-the-new-iphone-5s-2013-9
Tue, 10 Sep 2013 15:39:00 -0400Megan Rose Dickey
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/522f71e46da811f7384b398f-480-/apple-5s-fingerprint-tech.png" border="0" alt="Apple-5s-fingerprint-tech" width="480" /></p><p>Apple just <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-announces-iphone-5s-2013-9">officially announced and unveiled the iPhone 5S</a>, which is supposed to be twice as fast as its predecessor and comes with a fingerprint sensor.</p>
<p>The fingerprint system, dubbed Touch ID, will let you unlock your phone by simply placing your finger on the home button.&nbsp;</p>
<p>We've broken down how the system works.</p><h3>With Touch ID, all you have to do is touch your finger to the home button to unlock your phone. No more need for passwords .</h3>
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/522f6b826da811e4404b39a4-400-300/with-touch-id-all-you-have-to-do-is-touch-your-finger-to-the-home-button-to-unlock-your-phone-no-more-need-for-passwords-.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><h3>With the new iPhone, you'll be able to use your fingerprint to buy apps, music, books, TV shows, and movies through the iTunes Store. </h3>
<img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/522f6c3b6da811e6404b39a2-400-300/with-the-new-iphone-youll-be-able-to-use-your-fingerprint-to-buy-apps-music-books-tv-shows-and-movies-through-the-itunes-store.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><h3>But first you'll need to add your fingerprint and set your phone to allow its use instead of your Apple ID password. </h3>
<img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/522f6c7a6da811e8404b39a6-400-300/but-first-youll-need-to-add-your-fingerprint-and-set-your-phone-to-allow-its-use-instead-of-your-apple-id-password.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-apples-new-fingerprint-technology-works-on-the-new-iphone-5s-2013-9#simply-tap-your-finger-to-set-it-up-the-more-you-use-touchid-the-better-it-gets-at-detecting-your-finger-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a>